TOEFL iBT™ Quick Prep

Writing Section
This section measures your ability to use writing to communicate in an academic environment.

The Writing section includes a written transcript of the audio portion of the test. If you have access to someone
with good English pronunciation, ask the person to read the transcript aloud to you. Listening to the transcript is
better practice than reading it to yourself. If someone reads the transcript to you, make sure you see the picture.
Listen to or read the transcript only one time.

For Writing Practice Set 1, you will read a passage and listen to or read a lecture. You may take notes. Then you
will respond to a question that asks you about the relationship between the reading passage and the lecture. Try
to answer as completely as possible using information from the reading passage and the lecture. The question
does not ask you to express your personal opinion. You may consult the reading passage again when it is time for
you to write. You may use your notes to help you answer the question.

Typically, an effective response will be 150 to 225 words. Your response is judged on the quality of your writing
and on the completeness and accuracy of the content.

Now begin the Writing section.

TOEFL iBT™ Quick Prep Writing Practice Set 1

Writing Practice Set 1: Passage, Lecture, and Question

Directions: Give yourself 3 minutes to read the passage.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

 In an effort to encourage ecologically sustainable forestry practices, an international organization

started issuing certifications to wood companies that meet high ecological standards by conserving
resources and recycling materials. Companies that receive this certification can attract customers
by advertising their products as “ecocertified.” Around the world, many wood companies have
adopted new, ecologically friendly practices in order to receive ecocertification. However, it is
unlikely that wood companies in the United States will do the same, for several reasons.
 First, American consumers are exposed to so much advertising that they would not value or
even pay attention to the ecocertification label. Because so many mediocre products are labeled
“new” or “improved,” American consumers do not place much trust in advertising claims in general.
 Second, ecocertified wood will be more expensive than uncertified wood because in order to
earn ecocertification, a wood company must pay to have its business examined by a certification
agency. This additional cost gets passed on to consumers. American consumers tend to be
strongly motivated by price, and therefore they are likely to choose cheaper uncertified wood
products. Accordingly, American wood companies will prefer to keep their prices low rather than
obtain ecocertification.
 Third, although some people claim that it always makes good business sense for American
companies to keep up with the developments in the rest of the world, this argument is not
convincing. Pursuing certification would make sense for American wood companies only if they
marketed most of their products abroad. But that is not the case—American wood businesses sell
most of their products in the United States, catering to a very large customer base that is satisfied
with the merchandise.

Directions: Here is the transcript.

Narrator Now listen to part of a lecture on the

topic you just read about.

Professor Well, despite what many people say,

there’s good reason to think that
many American wood companies will
eventually seek ecocertification for their
wood products. First off, consumers in  
the United States don’t treat all advertising the same. They distinguish between
advertising claims that companies make about their own products and claims
made by independent certification agencies. Americans have a lot of confidence in
independent consumer agencies. Thus, ecologically minded Americans are likely
to react very favorably to wood products ecologically certified by an independent
organization with an international reputation for trustworthiness.

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TOEFL iBT™ Quick Prep Writing Practice Set 1

Second point—of course it’s true that American consumers care a lot about price—
who doesn’t? But studies of how consumers make decisions show that price alone
determines consumers’ decisions only when the price of one competing product
is much higher or lower than another. When the price difference between two
products is small—say, less than five percent, as is the case with certified wood—
Americans often do choose on factors other than price. And Americans are becoming
increasingly convinced of the value of preserving and protecting the environment.

And third, U.S. wood companies should definitely pay attention to what’s going
on in the wood business internationally, not because of foreign consumers, but
because of foreign competition. As I just told you, there’s a good chance that many
American consumers will be interested in ecocertified products. And guess what,
if American companies are slow capturing those customers, you can be sure that
foreign companies will soon start crowding into the American market, offering
ecocertified wood that domestic companies don’t.

Directions: G
 ive yourself 20 minutes to plan and write your response. Your response is judged on the quality of
the writing and on how well it presents the points in the lecture and their relationship to the reading
passage. Typically, an effective response will be 150 to 225 words. You may view the reading
passage while you respond.

Response time: 20 minutes

35. S
 ummarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they cast doubt on
specific points made in the reading passage.

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TOEFL iBT™ Quick Prep Answers

You do not need to repeat all of the details from the lecture. You need to only give sufficient
details to explain the two strategies.

As with all speaking tasks, your response should be intelligible, should demonstrate effective use
of grammar and vocabulary, and should be well developed and coherent. This task is scored
using the Integrated Speaking Rubrics (see Appendix).

Writing Section

Writing Practice Set 1

35. What is important to understand from the lecture is that the professor disagrees with the points
made in the reading, namely that American consumers mistrust advertising, that they are
unwilling to pay extra for ecocertified products, and that American companies do not need to
compete in parts of the world where ecocertification is valued.

In your response, you should convey the reasons presented by the professor for why
ecocertification of wood should be adopted by U.S. companies. A high-scoring response will
include the following points made by the professor that cast doubt on the points made in the
reading:

Point made in the reading Counterpoint made in the lecture

Because American consumers have come American consumers do pay attention to
to distrust frequently-used advertising claims about products when those claims
claims such as ‘new’ or ‘improved,’ are made by independent consumer
they won’t pay attention to or trust the agencies.
ecocertified label.
Since ecocertification adds to the cost of This is true only if there is a big price
a product, Americans would be unlikely difference between two similar products; if
to buy ecocertified products and would an ecocertified product costs only about five
choose cheaper, uncertified products. percent more, American consumers would
accept this in order to buy the product that
is better for the environment.
Because American companies sell their American companies must be ready to
products mainly in the U.S., they do compete with foreign companies that will
not need to compete in the rest of the soon be selling ecocertified products in the
world where ecocertification is desired by U.S. market.
consumers.

This task is scored using the Integrated Writing Rubrics (see Appendix). A response that receives a
score of 5 clearly conveys all three of the main points in the table using accurate sentence structure
and vocabulary.

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TOEFL iBT™ Quick Prep

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